Motorcycle fuel tanks often become dented, scratched and marred over time. Repairing the metal tank can be difficult and expensive. To repair a dented tank will generally require the tank be physically removed from the motorcycle. Then the tank surface must be properly prepped, and the dents pulled out. Next, the tank will need to be totally painted. The motorcycle owner will have the expense of having the motorcycle repaired by a shop and have to pay hourly rates charged by these shops. Thus, removal, repair and painting the tank is a time consuming and expensive proposition.
An alternative to repairing the damaged tank is to fully replace the tank with a new tank. However, the old tank would still need to be removed, and the customer would still have the expense of having to by a new fuel tank for the motorcycle, and the hourly shop costs that result. New motorcycle tanks can cost many hundreds of dollars by themselves.
Various other types of techniques have been proposed over the years. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,662,018 to Orman; 4,662,959 to Morgan; 4,775,561 to Barnett; and 5,884,380 to Thurm.
Orman describes a temporary rubber type “leakproof tank cover”, title, that a temporary fix or cover, and would not be aesthetically pleasing to others. Morgan and Barnett each describe applying a patch type sheet to a tank. These processes do not allow for the exterior of the patches to resemble that of an existing motorcycle tank, and are also difficult to install and use.
Thurm describes a method of attaching a motorcycle gas tank cover, title, generally requires the removal of existing bolt fasteners 38, 40 and flanges on the existing motorcycle gas tank, column 5. This mechanical removal and reattachment technique is both time consuming and not easy to do while the existing motorcycle tank is on a motorcycle. The Thurm technique allows for using ribbing material such as foam type strips between the cover and the existing tank, which does not create a tight complete fit since there are air space strips that must remain between the motorcycle and cover and the existing tank. These compressible foam type strips also allow for the cover to be able to move, slide, and potentially bang against the existing tank, which is also undesirable.
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art.